Israel and the Church: A Common Heritage and an Uncertain Future
(London, 8 – 9 October 2010)

The aim of this two-day conference, held at the London School of Theology, was to raise awareness within the Church of an alternative to the often polarised debate between supporters of Israel and the Arab population in Israel and the disputed territories. Speakers were Drs Darrell Bock (Dallas Theological Seminary), Mitch Glaser (Chosen People Ministries), Jules Gomes (Liverpool Cathedral), Richard Harvey (All Nations Christian College), Barry Horner and Calvin Smith (King’s Evangelical Divinity School). The event culminated with a concert by Nashville Messianic artist Marty Goetz. Jointly organised by Chosen People Ministries and King’s Evangelical Divinity School, the conference eventually involved most of the evangelistic works among the Jewish people in the United Kingdom. The conference hall was packed, and the presentations were at once direct and conciliatory in tone. The final session, modelled on the BBC’s Question Time programme, permitted delegates to raise questions with a panel comprising the various speakers.

Dr Stephen M. Vantassel is the Dean of Students at King's Evangelical Divinity School and the Assistant Editor of the Evangelical Review of Society and Politics. His research interests include Christianity and politics (particularly international relations and economics), environmental policy and practical theology. In this interview, Dr Vantassel discusses his recent book on ecotheology. 

Dr Vantassel, your book on Christians and animal rights is titled, Dominion over Wildlife? An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations. Please tell us briefly about your main thrust in this work.

The book engages two issues facing modern Christians. The first and primary issue is the narrow question concerning how Christ wants us to treat the animal kingdom, in particular wildlife. In recent years, an increasing number of self-professing Christians are asserting that God never wanted humanity to kill, eat, and otherwise oppress animals. Rather, just as Christ sacrificed himself for humanity, humans are to sacrifice themselves for animals and thereby extend Christ’s reconciliation to the animal kingdom. Therefore, these Christian Animal Rights (CAR) proponents (as I call them) contend that hunting, trapping, and fishing, and other forms of killing wildlife are violate Christ’s perfect will for human-wildlife relations. CAR proponents base their view on Scripture, ethical reasoning, and science. My book evaluates their arguments and evidence from all three areas. 

     Darrell Bock presents his paper in LST's chapel

The Israel and the Church: A Common Heritage and Uncertain Future conference, jointly organised by King's Evangelical Divinity School and Chosen People Ministries and held at London School of Theology over the weekend, was a resounding success! Delegates filled LST's chapel and the papers were thought-provoking and challenging. The conference ended with a Question Time type panel discussion. Full details of the event will be posted here in due course once the organisers/participants have agreed a final press release.

In the meantime, conference proceedings were recorded and you can now order DVDs and/or CDs of the event. To order copies, download and complete the order form and post it to the address indicated, or else scan and email it to the college office. Discussions are also now underway to produce a conference volume, which will include additional papers.

FULLY BOOKED. NO PLACES REMAINING FOR CONFERENCE (concert on Saturday evening still available).

Conference to be held in North London on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th October (includes a buffet meal on the Friday evening) exploring the relationship between the Church and Israel and its effects.

Speakers

Darrell Bock (Dallas Theological Seminary)
Mitch Glaser (Chosen People Ministries, New York)
Jules Gomes (London School of Theology)
Richard Harvey (All Nations College)
Barry Horner (Christ Church, Tucson, Arizona)
Calvin Smith (King's Evangelical Divinity School)

Dates and Times

Friday 8 October (6 - 9.30 pm)
Saturday 9 October (10 - 5 pm, followed by a concert with Marty Goetz in Hammersmith, London at 8 pm)

Venue

London School of Theology, Green Lane, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 2UW. Directions.

About the Conference

Jointly organised by Chosen People Ministries and King’s Evangelical Divinity School, the purpose of this conference is to explore the often tense relationship between the Church and Israel, Christian responses to the Middle East and their wider effects on Jewish evangelism, Messianic Judaism and Jewish-Christian relations. The Church-Israel relationship represents a longstanding doctrinal debate throughout much of the Church’s history. However, in the past two decades or so, with an increasingly bitter Middle East conflict, this issue has moved beyond the strictly exegetical and theological spheres to encompass the political realm, so that the increasingly bitter debate taking place across society and the media concerning the Israel-Palestinian conflict is being increasingly echoed in the Church, resulting in Christian responses to Israel of late becoming sharply polarised, heated and intractable. The wider knock-on effects of this include disagreements within Messianic Judaism over how it views itself and its relationship with the Church, how a perceived Christian anti-Israel bias is affecting Jewish responses to the Gospel, and the bearing the debate is having upon how British Evangelicals view and engage in Jewish mission.

The conference, then, will explore Christian responses to the Middle East, together with outlining and analysing aspects of the Church’s relationship with Israel, including issues such as supercessionism, the ongoing election and purposes in the plan of God for the nation of Israel, the history and present role of Christian Zionism as it relates to Jewish evangelism (both positively and detrimentally), how the current theological debate is being played out against the backdrop of the volatile Middle East conflict, and Jewish mission. It will help Evangelicals, regardless of their theological perspective, to develop a clearer and more complete theology regarding the relationship between Israel and the Church, leading towards a deeper biblical and theological basis for Jewish mission. The aim is for the conference to produce more light than heat, especially seeking agreement on the need and strategic importance to reach Jewish people with the Gospel. It is also envisaged the conference will contribute towards constructive theological dialogue between theologians from all sides, thus helping to shift the discussion away from what has too often been an unnecessarily pejorative and polemic approach.

Some of the papers delivered at the conference will be included in a new volume exploring the nature, cause and effects of the uneasy relationship between the Church and Israel, due for publication in 2011.